Padyak Pinoy
| Region | Philippines |
|---|---|
| English name | Tour of the Philippines |
| Local name(s) | Tour ng Pilipinas |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI Asia Tour 2.2 |
| Type | Stage race |
| Organiser | Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines |
| First edition | 1955 (as Tour of Luzon) |
| First winner |
 Antonio Arzala (PHI)
|
| Most wins |
Antonio Arzala (PHI) (3 wins)
|
| Most recent |
 Jai Crawford (AUS)
|
The Le Tour de Filipinas is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Luzon, Philippines since 1955 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It is held in April every year. While the course changes every year, the tour traditionally ends at Rizal Park, Manila, although recently the tour has ended in Baguio after being licensed by the UCI. Its previous names included the Tour of Luzon, Marlboro Tour, Tour of Calabarzon, Tour Pilipinas and Padyak Pinoy, before carrying the current name.
In 1955, the Tour was launched as a four-stage race from Manila to Vigan race won by Antonio Arzala. But, a year later, the race was renamed as the Tour of Luzon and carried the name until 1976 (there was no tour held in 1968, 1970–1972).
Among the prominent riders include Pangasinan riders Cornelio Padilla, Jr. and Jesus Garcia, Jr., who were two-time Tour champions along with Jose Sumalde of Catanduanes. However, in 1977, a rift within the PCAP (see below) led to a split of two tours during the said year. However, according to the Padyak Pinoy website, the event organized by Geruncio Lacuesta is recognized on their official list. The tour's name ended by 1978 as Marlboro entered the scene.
By 1979, Marlboro became the official sponsor of the tour and the event was named as Marlboro Tour, a name that is commonly familiar to ardent racers and fans. During these times, the tour expanded its routes, by including cities from Visayas in the leg, with the final laps regularly held at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila.
From 1997-1998, the tour allowed riders from Asia to compete in the event and was sanctioned by the UCI. It also led to Wong Kam-po of Hong Kong to become the first non-Filipino to win the event in 1997, after overtaking 1996 winner Victor Espiritu for the lead in the latter stages.
The format used for the teams are based on provinces with the national team included in the race. It was also the same format when Asian riders participated in the event beginning in 1997.
In 1999, Marlboro backed out as sponsor which proved to be a devastating blow to the organizers. The tour lost about a possible 60-million pesos to finance the tour. With this, there was no tour held from 1999-2001. To compensate the loss of the so-called "Summer Cycling Spectacle", other groups formed mini-races during the summer.
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Wikipedia